Incorrectly Labeled
by Caleon
Summary: Lucy is reminded to think twice before acting ... and of what is truly important. Holiday one-shot. Happy Holidays!


~ Incorrectly Labeled ~

 _A/N: This is a Christmas gift to my Narnian friends near and far, and to readers of my fics. It takes place in London after the events of_ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe _(so you *could* consider this part of the larger_ Blades of Narnia _series, if you really wanted to, but I've placed it so it fits either way *g*). It's never made clear *when* the Pevensies return from Professor Kirke's house. I like to think they did get home to Christmas with their mother. The children are presumably spirited back to Narnia sometime in 1941 according to canon lore (see_ Prince Caspian _), so this would therefore have to take place in ..._

 _London, December 1940_

Once upon a time, she'd been a queen. Lucy didn't miss that part—not much, she didn't—but she did very much miss being taller.

This part of the city had mostly survived the Blitz. The stores here seemed to be trying to make up for the horrors inflicted on the rest of London. They gleamed with polished glass windows and swept verges, in staunch British spite of the damage the Germans had done elsewhere. In any case, the area had drawn young and old alike.

Lucy strained to see over the shoulders of the children standing in front of her. Boys and girls jostled each other along the chilly, snow-crusted pavement to better see the Christmas toys in the shop window. One of the youngest girls was having the same trouble: hampered by her parent's hand, she couldn't get round the bigger boy in front of her to see what must be a dazzling, snowy vista inside. The boy had been elbowing children to either side, monopolizing the spot on his end of the window.

Lucy clenched her mittened fists, indignant on the smaller girl's behalf, and readied to ask the bigger boy for a turn at the window. Demand it, if necessary. Maybe even surreptitiously step on his toe.

"Excuse me," she heard her brother Edmund say. Ed had shot up rather a lot since their stay with Professor Kirke, and his voice grown deeper, too, it seemed—or maybe it was because Lucy looked at him and still saw the man he'd been. He even filled out Peter's hand-me-down coat. Last year, it had still hung loosely on his frame.

Whatever the case, his demeanor must have given the larger boy second thoughts, because the boy shuffled a few grudging steps to his right. Ed angled toward the gap, then urged Lucy with him so that they could view the display together from the little wedge of space. Before turning to the window, however, Ed arched around to the mother and girl. "Would she like to see, ma'am?"

The girl's mother blinked, clearly not expecting to be so addressed by one of the children clamoring at the window. "Why ... yes. Thank you."

Ed stooped in front of the girl, and it was then Lucy noticed the child wore some sort of brace on one leg. Gently, Ed lifted the girl onto his shoulder, being careful not to jostle the apparatus, then turned toward the window to allow her to view the Christmas display. The girl squealed with delight and clapped her hands, looking as much thrilled by her higher vantage point as by the contents of the shop.

Lucy slipped into the bit of remaining space in front of her brother, where she would not obstruct either his view or the girl's. And then she saw what the bigger boy was holding in his arms, and why he'd been pushing and shoving in order to gain some buffer space: a puppy, with a splint of its own on one leg and an awkwardly bandaged ear. The boy holding the dog paid them no attention, looking instead at the toys inside the window, which included a small, bright red ball.

"See that ball, Skip?" the boy murmured to the pup, so quietly Lucy hardly heard it over the murmur of the crowd. "That's the one I'm gonna get you with all the rest of my pocket money. As soon as you're better, we're gonna chase it up and down the yard, you wait."

The scruffy pup slurped at the boy's chin. The boy started to grin, then noticed Lucy watching him. The smile faltered, and he tried to replace it with a manful scowl ... but another squeal from the child on Ed's shoulder drew his attention.

The boy's gaze went to the girl, and to the brace on her leg. He looked back to Lucy, then gave her a hesitant smile.

Lucy thought it the nicest smile she'd ever seen. She beamed back. They were jostled from behind, and Lucy threw her arms out automatically to keep anyone from pressing the boy and his dog too close against the window—forgetting she was much shorter than she used to be—but the boy seemed to take her gesture for its intent, and he gave her a real grin.

She spied an affectionate gleam in Ed's eye as he looked at her, then they all turned back to the window to admire the toys within. Lucy stopped worrying about the slush chilling her toes through her Wellingtons, or the flakes of snow melting into her hair. She felt warm through, all the same.

Frugality still ruled in London, but here, inside the shop window, one could almost imagine the Blitz had never happened. White sackcloth and shredded paper stood in for snow. Greenery made a tiny forest behind the glass. There were marbles and dolls and toy cars and a wooden wagon. The glow from the lights inside reflected off the faces of the children crowded around the window, all of them eager. Lucy stopped staring at the toys and instead watched the faces, each of them, young and old, somehow lovely with their smiles, the war forgotten in this moment of shared wonder. _This is a better present than anything inside that window._

After a few moments, she turned back to the display. A splash of yellow in the corner caught her eye. There, quietly regal with its bright felt fur and black button eyes, stood a stuffed toy lion.

Ed set the little girl down beside her mother again, then took Lucy's hand, and they prepared to walk down the street to the grocery where their mother, Peter, and Susan waited. With a final glance back at the toy lion, Lucy whispered, "Merry Christmas."

~ The End ~

Happy Holidays 2017  
Love, Caleon


End file.
